2024 General Election Betting
Request
I am making a Freedom of Information Request in relation to Operation Scott, described by Sam Stein KC as "an investigation launched by the Gambling Commission into politicians and employees of the Conservative party, and a former police officer who had placed bets on the date of the 2024 general election with the benefit of confidential or insider information as to when that date might be."
Specifically:
· How many employees have worked either full or part time on the investigation?
· What is the cost of the investigation to date? If you are unable to provide a precise figure,please provide an estimate.
· Has any internal investigation taken place into how the identities of people under investigation or being interviewed as witnesses entered into the public domain?
· Was it the policy of the Commission to inform the Metropolitan Police of the identities of any individuals under investigation by the Gambling Commission who were not Metropolitan Police officers? If so, was this due to legal requirements?
Should you be unable to respond to the questions within the statutory cost-limit I would be happy to refine by request to bring it within scope.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested information in relation to Operation Scott, described by Sam Stein KC as "an investigation launched by the Gambling Commission into politicians and employees of the Conservative party, and a former police officer who had placed bets on the date of the 2024 general election with the benefit of confidential or insider information as to when that date might be.” Specifically:
- How many employees have worked either full or part time on the investigation?
- What is the cost of the investigation to date? If you are unable to provide a precise figure, please provide an estimate.
- Has any internal investigation taken place into how the identities of people under investigation or being interviewed as witnesses entered into the public domain?
- Was it the policy of the Commission to inform the Metropolitan Police of the identities of any individuals under investigation by the Gambling Commission who were not Metropolitan Police officers? If so, was this due to legal requirements?
I can confirm that information falling within the scope of your request is held by the Commission.
However, the information you have requested relating to the cost of the investigation to date is not collated into one cost centre. In order to provide the information you have described, a large volume of financial data would need to be reviewed from multiple areas of the Commission.
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for public authorities, such as the Commission, is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information. We estimate, in order to identify, locate and retrieve the information relating to the above request, it would take in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract any relevant information in reference to your request.
When a public authority applies the Section 12 exemption to a request, the FOIA guidance specifically states that a public authority should avoid providing any information found as a result of a search as it denies the requestor the right to express a preference as to which parts of the request they may wish to receive within the appropriate time limit. Guidance on the application of section 12 can be viewed here:
The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab)
If you are able to refine your request, we may be able to narrow the number of records that we need to search.
Until we are able to process the search of the information you have requested, we are unable to ascertain if other exemptions will apply to any material identified which would also prevent disclosure.
Please note, any refined request would be processed as a new request and the 20 working day statutory time limit would apply.
Review of the decision
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.
Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.
If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.
It should be noted that if you wish to raise a complaint with the ICO about the Commission’s handling of your request for information, then you are required to do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with us.
The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission